Hugh's measurements suggest that sE's quoted frequency response of flat (within 0.3dB) from 10Hz to 120kHz is a credible claim - he found that the frequency response was ruler flat from just under 12Hz (with a gentle 6dB/octave roll-off below that) right up to the limit (and beyond) of the test system at 80kHz. The maximum input level is around -18.5dBu, delivering +10.5dBu at the output (with 0.5 percent THD). On the test bench Hugh measured the DM1's gain at 29dB - which is slightly more than the specified 28dB - and unlike many similar 'cascade' gain devices, the Dynamite's gain remained consistent regardless of the destination's load impedance. In subjective tests, the DM1 seemed quiet and clean, delivering plenty of gain for low-output passive ribbon mics, but after a few practical tests such as this, we decided that Hugh should introduce the DM1 to his Audio Precision test set, to see just how good it is on a technical level. In addition to providing useful gain when you need it, the buffered circuity also makes the sE DM1 a practical choice when feeding long cable runs.Ĭonstructed mainly of surface-mount components, the DM1 is designed to add a fixed 28dB of gain, using a very low-noise Class‑A design, and on paper the specifications look very impressive (more on that below), but no distortion figure is quoted. There are no switches or controls, so all you have to do is remember to feed it phantom power and adjust the gain on the mic preamp as usual.

It doesn't pass the phantom power on to the connected microphone, so there's no risk of damage to vintage ribbons or faulty mics. It is powered by the preamp's standard +48V phantom power and draws a modest 3mA. The DM1 has a male XLR connector at one end of the tube and a female XLR at the other, and this is placed between your microphone and your regular mic preamp. We were very lucky to get this review underway, actually, as this tube comes packed inside a dummy stick of dynamite, complete with fuse - Paul brought it back from the AES show in his hold luggage, and when back in the UK he found a note to say the bag had been searched by US customs thankfully they decided his bag wasn't suspicious enough to warrant a controlled explosion! It is built into a metal tube just under 100mm in length so is very compact. The sE Electronics DM1 provides a similar functionality to many other microphone gain boosters, such as the Cloud Microphones Cloudlifter and the Triton Audio FetHead - it acts as a local in-line gain-booster for weak microphone signals, such as from passive ribbon mics and some moving-coil dynamics. I am not sorry.We put sE's claims of truly transparent gain to the test. They all do the job, but the tests as outlined above gave me the incentive to buy the Dynamites instead of more FetHeads. I have a pair of FetHeads and four Dynamites. It's unfortunately red in a marketing homage to the name, but I expect some black heat-shrink would make it more stage friendly.ĭoug, I know that you'd been looking for more gain in your pre-Grace days, and you may not need this capability any more, but seeing this article made me think of you and the flaws you'd found with other products.ĭoug, I know that you'd been looking for more gain in your pre-Grace days, and you may not need this capability any more, but seeing this article made me think of you and the flaws you'd found with other products.I use ribbons for a fair amount of my recordings. The unit is (unlike the cloudlifter) no bigger than an XLR adapter. SoundOnSound tested the new sE Electronics DM1 Dynamite in their Feb 2019 issue (Vol 39 Issue 4), and found it to offer 29dB of clean gain with a very low -94.3 dBu noise floor when tested with an Audio Precision Test Set. Many folks have tried them and one of the frequent complaints has been about the perceived noise. There are several products from Cloud, Trion, BeesNeez and MartiAudio.

A conventional solution is a pre-preamp, a phantom powered amp with a fixed amount of gain placed inline, usually as close to the source mic as possible. For folks using ribbons and other low-output dynamic mics, we often wish for more gain than we might have available in our preamps.

Se electronics dm1 dynamite